Changes to garbage and recycling collection in the city of North Battleford will wait until the end of budget deliberations.
That was what came of the discussion at Monday's council meeting, as council voted unanimously to table two resolutions on the subject.
One of the resolutions was to purchase 4,752 solid waste rollout bins from Superior Truck Equipment Inc, of Calgary, Alta. for $63 per cart plus taxes, along with a bi-weekly residential pickup schedule with K & B Construction.
That plan would see the rate for garbage collection remaining the same at $9 with an additional $1 added for cart repayment.
However, concerns were expressed at Monday's meeting about the bi-weekly schedule and the implications that would have during the summer.
Councillor Greg Lightfoot said feedback he received indicated biweekly collection "seems to be a bit of a concern out there."
He noted concerns about the smell from garbage left in the bins during the summer months. He suggested a modified schedule of biweekly pickup during most of the year but switching to weekly pickup during the summer, something other cities have tried. There would be an additional cost going that route, though.
Also coming from the feedback, as Councillor Ryan Bater noted, were a few issues from seniors and others with special needs who might find it difficult to get those rollout bins to the curb. He wanted to know whether the service provider is able or willing to assist those persons.
In the end council decided to table the resolution on solid waste rollout bins, with the issue to be discussed and decided during budget deliberations. It's expected more information will be provided to councillors on costs and other issues by then.
Mayor Ian Hamilton told reporters those budget deliberations are likely to happen by mid-December.
Also tabled was a second resolution on residential recycling collection, which will also be discussed and decided during budget deliberations.
The resolution up for discussion Monday had called for Ever Green Ecological Services Inc. be contracted to implement bi-weekly blue bag residential recycling collection and processing system for an annual cost of $296,412.
However, at least a couple of issues are still up in the air.
One issue is whether to go with blue bag recycling, which Ever Green has proposed, or go with blue roll-out carts, an option that both Ever Green and Loraas Environmental Services Ltd. are offering.
The second issue is whether to go ahead and award the contract to Ever Green or whether to go with Loraas, who are established locally and who currently offer the blue rollout carts to about 500 city households contracting for that service.
Representatives from both Ever Green and Loraas made presentations providing information on the various options, as well as stating their case as to why their companies should ultimately be awarded the recycling contract.
Ever Green officials showed a comparison chart that listed the various options and noted blue bag collection seemed to offer more advantages in terms of preventing contamination, spacing and storage, and ease of use. While blue carts scored well for appearance and ease of use, they did offer more limited capacity than the bags as well as greater concerns for contamination and spacing.
However, in their presentation Loraas offered a stark contrast, as Saskatchewan sales manager Aaron Beres made clear their preference for blue carts over blue bags.
He noted recycling bags became a waste product themselves and noted issues if the recycling bags were not tied shut, and that animals could rip open the bags if the food containers were not rinsed out. They also made a pitch for giving the contract to a locally-based company with several employees.
The issue of the impact to the local economy concerned Councillor Trent Houk. He asked Ever Green what their investment would be in North Battleford. It was indicated they'd use fuel in North Battleford and open a local office; repairs and tires would likely be done in Lloydminster, however.
All of those issues are still to be discussed and settled during budget deliberations.
It was Houk who called for the recycling and the solid waste contract issues to be settled after budget deliberations were held, so council could see the "big picture" and see what rate increases the community could be looking at.
Houk also wanted to see more information go out to the public on the changes and what they could mean.
"There's a lot more needs to go to the public before a decision gets made on this," said Houk.
